24th Nov: Reliance A1 to Siliguri

24th Nov: Reliance A1 to Siliguri

How many kilometers can a biker cover in 3 and a half hours on a national highway?100? 150? 200? Well, we managed to cover 65, yes, around sixty five kilometers in 210 minutes on NH-34!!
The previous night was quite good, with mosquitoes, insects staying away due to the cream but there were a couple of instances when people barged into the room, looked around and once this guy came and shouted something in Bengali at me (I think I used his cardboard sheets on the cots) and went away and second time a guy came in, woke up Sunil and snatched the cardboard sheet Sunil was sleeping on. We initially thought of sleeping outside but the chill factor would have been too much without any quilts or sheets.

Good morning at the Reliance A1 restaurant

Anyways, we managed to get up by 7 and after freshning up and drinking tea, left the place by 8am easily. And we thought we would be in Siliguri by 4pm, well well.

The roads were the best we had seen till date on the Leg 2. Yesterday was nothing in front of what we rode on today. Pot-holes will be an understatement, and they were all over the road, spread around everywhere, and sometimes the road was completely washed out! Leaving the Fireblade back in Kolkata really made sense. The machines we were riding today were never manufactured for this kind of torture and I knew it wouldn’t be long before parts would start falling off. This time too it was the 0793 Blaze that I was riding. The main stand came off, and so did the exhaust too but I kept on riding, thinking that I would make it to the next little town but as I hit another crater, the end of the exhaust (which goes into the cylinder head) touched the road, the rear tyre went over it and the whole exhaust turned around, twisting a couple of bolts! I had to stop and wait for the gang to catch up.

New exhaust design?

While Vinayak Jee and Ashish worked on the Blaze, I went into the fields near by to relax and take some ‘natural’ pictures.

Some couple of hours later, after getting the Blaze welded up, we were 5kms short of Malda, with the members here, having lunch and breakfast combined together.

The route we took till there should be taken off India's map (and put on moon's map). The Blaze's exhaust came off, the main stand too came off and the other parts feel as if they will be falling off any time... its better to ride off the road than on the road. Sunil, Ashish and me were waiting for Sunny, Gurjan and Vinayak to catch up in the back up vehicle and when they came, I just asked them in a funny way, 'are your bones ok?' ....little did I know what I asked was true as they just had a first hand experience of the worst of this area. A bridge was down (only bikes allowed, so we left on the blazes and comet) while the back up vehicle took the village route n were stopped by people demanind money. Sunny stepped out to ask why and the rest is history. Sunny, Gurjan and Vinayak have bruises over their body due to the hits by the 'dandas' and are lucky enuf to be breathing right now.

It’s a shame to say we are in India right now, with pathetic roads, senseless selfish villagers and cops who live not on govt's money but on these local leaders' money. Guwahati seems out of the GIR route now, there is too much tension in that area and we cant imagine what may happen there if this is what happened in West Bengal...
Anyways, we relaxed there with uday (rpmboy), Arunabha, Surojit, Amit, Suryya and Prasanjit and left for Siliguri, around 250kms by around 2pm. Yes, wounds will heal but the memories will remain and I know I am an Indian, still I would request you guys never to come to this route again, and if you do, remain in a convoy. Sometimes your own people can be your enemies too.

We are now in Siliguri and rode around 360kms today, and the roads, except for 40kms of four-lane roads, have been nothing but pure hell. I wonder how can these shameful politicians live like this. Anyways, tomorrow we head to the hills and that’s what I am looking forward to!